This Ever Present Feeling
by simply-aly
Summary: The ring on Clarke's finger is as fake as their story, but it is believable enough to get them into the event. Honestly, Bellamy's surprised. 10 one-word prompts each recieving their own drabble, for Bellarke Fanfic Fest over on Tumblr.


1.) Witch

"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" the guy asks. He's cute and surprisingly sober for being such a late hour on Halloween night at a party thrown by Jasper and Monty.

Clarke smiles at his pick up line and waves her plastic wand. "Depends," she answers evasively as she skirts around him. She likes him, but she's not going to make it easy. She can tell by the look in his eye that he doesn't want that.

"On what?"

"On what kind of spell I'll have to put on you to get you to take me home," she replies before leaving him to chat with Raven. She knows she'll find him later.

2.) Red

Her dress is the deepest red he's ever seen her wear, and Bellamy's mesmerized. To be fair, Bellamy's been mesmerized by Clarke Griffin since she showed up on set for their first movie together five years ago.

She walks over to him, paying no attention to the paparazzi snapping picture after picture and asking for poses. Her smile is brighter than just moments before and Bellamy knows, somewhere deep in his being, that this smile is only for him, not the cameras flashing at them.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

"With you by my side, I'm ready for anything," he tells her, quoting his character.

Bellamy will never be sure how much of their public lives is reality and how much is put on for the press. He knows the make out in the limo before the after party is all them, as is the lazy morning after in his room. He knows the date to Raven's fancy ass club is a publicity stunt for the movie, just as much as the interviews on Ellen and Good Morning America are.

But this moment right here—paparazzi snapping pictures all around them, news outlets shoving microphones in their direction—is just them as Clarke laughs at his quip and links arms with him before leading him down the red carpet, paying attention to no one else.

3.) Fake

The ring on Clarke's finger is as fake as their story, but it is believable enough to get them into the event. Honestly, Bellamy's surprised.

They make their way through the party, mingling with the other guests. Bellamy's posing as a rich investor and Clarke's his socialite fiancée. Twenty minuets in and they have people eating out of their hands. They spend some time waltzing on the dance floor while the behind-the-scenes parts of the plan are being worked out.

Bellamy's more thankful now than ever before that Clarke insisted on dance lessons before this con. "I grew up going to parties like this," she had said, "and there's no way we're getting through that gala without a waltz or two."

Roan finds them once they've finally managed to extricate themselves from the dancing. "You two look good out there," he says gruffly. Clarke smiles and reaches for Bellamy's hand.

"I know," she says, "that's why I picked him." She's walking leisurely toward a far hallway, and they're keeping pace. Not noticeable enough to attract attention, but not subtle enough to warrant notice on cameras later.

Bellamy just scowls. He doesn't know all of Clarke's past with Roan, but they've definitely planned their fair share of cons together. She insists that he's trustworthy, though, and he trusts Clarke, so…here they are.

"Nerd's hacked into the security mainframe and has routed you a path to the vault. It's in Jaha's office, behind his desk covered by a painting. There's a map on your cell. See you in the getaway car."

There's no time to admonish him on his nickname for Monty. Roan takes off toward the kitchen where Raven's waiting. He's got to get her out and ready to hotwire a car for their extraction.

"Jaha's going to flip when he realizes what happened at his precious gala," Bellamy mumbles as they make their way to his office. "You sure he won't recognize you?"

"In this dress and with this hair?" Clarke replies, flipping the straight red hair for emphasis. "Of course not."

4.) Shower

Old Nan's been talking about rain for two weeks, but the summer heat and the current drought have made everyone take her words with a grain of salt, as the saying went.

Bellamy's just thankful that Arkadia's near a water source. The heat is unbearable by mid-day, so when the first rumbles of thunder are heard, they're quickly dismissed. No one even notices the dark clouds roll in.

All of a sudden, Clarke's running over to Bellamy as he's making his rounds outside.

"What are you doing?" he asks, "You should be in Medical where it's cooler."

"Look up," she says.

Bellamy opens his mouth to ask why when another clap of thunder sounds, and rain begins to pelt down on them. Around them, everyone is scrambling for cover, pulling in linens and rushing animals to dry shelter, but Bellamy and Clarke don't move.

The rain pours down on them, their clothes stick to their bodies, weighing them down. Clarke's blonde hair is darker and clings to her face. Clarke smiles and turns slowly around in a circle, reveling in the feeling. "It's about time," Clarke says.

And Bellamy nods before pulling her close and kissing her. "Yeah," he whispers, when finally they pull apart. "It's about damn time."

5.) Retaliate

"He started this when he painted his shed neon green. Neon green, Raven! Like, who does that?" Clarke rants as she paints her mailbox florescent orange.

"I don't see how you're much better here," Raven says, tilting her head and squinting her eyes as if trying to understand the logic.

"The orange goes with my color scheme. Red car, brown house, yellow daffodils. It makes sense. The neon green does not go with the red house, bright blue car, and pink and red roses in the front yard. It clashes. I'm trying to show him how a color pallet should look."

"Or, you're just being ridiculous. You need to talk to him. He's been your new neighbor since December and you've barely talked in six months except to criticize each other's every move."

"He's the one who stole my garbage can! He's lucky I didn't inform the city."

"No, you just stole his cat instead."

"The cat was yowling outside and he wasn't letting it back in, I thought it needed somewhere warm to be, and it did."

Raven rolls her eyes. "You two are actually hopeless."

6.) Study

Clarke spends a lot of time just watching Bellamy. Whether they're alone in their tent or about doing their own duties, if he's in the room, Clarke can often be found staring. No one calls her out on it, and Bellamy certainly doesn't seem to notice, so Clarke doesn't see anything wrong with it. Not really, anyway.

One night, they're sitting around a the embers of what had been a dinner-fire from earlier in the evening. It's late, and no one else is around. Bellamy's taking a knife to a piece of wood, and Clarke…well, Clarke's taking a look at his hands.

Suddenly, the silence of the moment is broken by Bellamy's low voice. "Why do you look at me so much?"

Clarke freezes. "I—I didn't think you noticed."

"Of course I noticed," he scoffs with a teasing lilt.

Clarke doesn't say anything for awhile after that, and Bellamy doesn't push. That's one of the many things she loves about him. Finally, she answers, "I just can't imagine looking anywhere else."

7.) Domestic

"Bellamy!" Octavia shouts from the bathroom, "where's the toilet paper?"

"Second shelf from the bottom!" Clarke shouts from the living room just as Bellamy shouts from the kitchen.

Lincoln stares at her. "What?" Clarke asks nonchalantly.

"They've always kept it on the top shelf."

Clarke shrugs. "I couldn't reach it up there. Bellamy moved it."

8.) Family

Clarke has never had a family like this before she met Bellamy Blake. Sure, on the surface, her childhood seemed like an idyllic picture perfect way to grow up. She had rich, supportive parents who loved each other; but despite all the love that was present in the Griffin Estate as she grew up, Clarke often felt empty and alone. That's what happens when everyone is to busy with their own lives to really be there for each other in all the ways that truly matter.

Bellamy Blake, on the other hand, is in nearly every part of her life now, and Clarke couldn't be happier about it. She lives in the apartment next to him, and sees him in the hallways all the time.

He asks her how she's doing, and something compels her to answer honestly each time. When she tells him she's hungry, he stops by not even an hour later with some homemade dish he wants her to try. When she tells him she's angry about something, he makes time to listen. When she's excited about something, he is too.

And it doesn't stop there. His sister is lovely and has become one of her closest friends. Her and her husband, Lincoln, show up to every one of Clarke's art exhibits with Bellamy, and invite her to their weekly cook-outs.

That's where she meets everyone else, who somehow quickly squeeze their way into her life as well. Raven's a mechanic, so when Bellamy tells her about Clarke's car that's been giving her problems, she's immediately going outside to check it out; and Harper is the owner of a craft store that Clarke soon makes it her first stop when she's getting materials for a new piece.

Monty is good with electronics, and when Bellamy mentions to him that Clarke doesn't even have cable, Monty promises to "hook her up". This quickly escalates into post-modernizing her entire apartment.

Jasper is constantly calling her with strange questions. "How did you even get my number?" she asks one morning when he asks her about panda mating habits before dawn. He just makes a strangled sound before mumbling something about stealing it from Bellamy's phone before hanging up.

Nathan Miller has his own security firm, which she utilizes for her art shows. Miller never appears to be impressed by her or her art, but he does seem grateful for the publicity. He also seems to make appearances at her house for no reason whenever Monty's fixing her appliances.

Clarke rarely ever feels alone despite living alone in a small apartment, because she knows that just outside those walls, lives a family of people who all care about her.

9.) Surviving

Clarke knew it was always a possibility. It's why she was so reluctant to date him at first. Her father was a cop and was killed in the line of duty, and Clarke didn't want to go through that again.

And yet, here she is, staring across the room as Bellamy is wheeled into the hospital ER, blood soaking his clothes.

"Clarke, we need you over here," Jackson is saying. She knows he's still talking, but she doesn't hear everything. "Two cops…gunshot wounds…critical condition."

"I…I can't," she says. She turns to her right where her fellow nurse, Maya, stands and explains with the only words she can think of. "He's my boyfriend."

She ends up clocking out early with her mother's blessing as Chief of Staff, and waiting in the waiting room with six other nurses and doctors not currently on duty—her mother included.

"He'll be okay," she keeps whispering to Octavia. "We'll be okay, he'll survive this, he has to."

10.) Sleep

At the end of the night, despite having her own dorm room with Raven, Clarke often finds herself knocking on their RA's door.

Bellamy always looks at her with a twinge of surprise when he sees her in the hallway. Clarke wonders why. She comes over most nights, and often leaves in the morning with a promise that she'll probably be back.

At first, she had asked, "Can I come in?" and he'd nod. Now, he merely opens the door wider and ushers her in.

At first, he used to ask her what she needed, but the answer would always be the same. "I don't know," she'd say, and she'd fall asleep in his bed, watching as he read next to her. Now, he just goes straight back to bed and she curls up beside him.


End file.
